Yamuna
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Overview
The Yamuna rises at Yamunotri and joins the Ganga at Prayagraj from the right bank, flowing past Delhi and Agra. It receives the Chambal, Sindh, Betwa and Ken from the peninsular side.
The Ganga–Yamuna doab is central to early Indian history: Late Harappan communities spread into it, the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture there is linked with the Copper Hoards, and the later Vedic people moved into it from the Sapta Sindhu. Firoz Shah Tughlaq built the Western Yamuna canal.
Geography and key facts
- Source: Yamunotri glacier
- Joins the Ganga at Prayagraj
- Peninsular tributaries: Chambal, Sindh, Betwa, Ken
- Ganga–Yamuna doab: OCP–Copper Hoard culture; later Vedic settlement
Why it matters for UPSC
Asked in glacier–river pairs (2019), rivers of Himachal Pradesh (2010), tributary–main river pairs (2008) and the 2026 question on old river courses in the Pleistocene.
Note for UPSC
Rises at Yamunotri and joins the Ganga at Prayagraj; flows past Delhi and Agra.
Prelims asks about tributaries, the states a river flows through, its basin and the projects on it, so trace the course on the map.
Asked in PYQs
- UPSC Prelims 2026 · Q1Consider the following assertion : In the Pleistocene period either the Yamuna once flowed into the Indus, or the Sutlej flowed into the Yamuna and one major tributary of…
- UPSC Prelims 2019 · Q38Consider the following pairs : Glacier River Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?…
- UPSC Prelims 2010 · Q75Rivers that pass through Himachal Pradesh are…
- UPSC Prelims 2008 · Q24Consider the following pairs: Tributary River – Main River Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?…
- UPSC Prelims 1998 · Q67Which one of the following east-flowing rivers of India has a rift valley due to down-warping?…
Questions from our Prelims bank whose text names Yamuna.
Key facts
- Type
- River
- States / UTs on its course
- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana
- River system
- Himalayan
- Basin
- Ganga
- Extent on map
- 25.3°–31.0°N, 77.1°–81.9°E
- Asked in Prelims
- 5 questions · 2026, 2019, 2010, 2008, 1998
From the Map Explorer data; positions are for orientation.